Faithful Followers

Saturday, July 24, 2010

On Thursday, there were jellyfish EVERYWHERE! Every couple feet, on the beach, there were jellyfish. Every wave that crested was dotted with brown jellyfish. Few people ventured into the ocean. I don't know what kind these were, but despite getting stung repeatedly, my kids weren't bothered too much by them.

There were tons of these clear, disc-like ones. We could touch them without any problems.

The kids collected hundreds of them as they washed ashore.

Then Austin decided to make a game of it. He'd scoop up a jellyfish and whip it at Jackson. Jackson called to me, "Mooom, he's throwing jellyfish at me!" Being very sensitive and knowing this wouldn't end well, I put a stop to it immediately. Okay, no I didn't. I said, "Well, throw one back!"

Spot the flying jellyfish for a prize.

So, this went on for a while. Austin threw jellyfish and Jackson ducked. Then, Austin launched a huge one. Jackson ducked. An unsuspecting Savannah was walking on the beach. Whack! She was smacked on the chest. It stung. With the force of a 70 mph fastball. She doubled over and cried. Apparently, when one of these jellyfish gently rubs against you, it stings a little bit. When it's forcefully thrust upon you, well, let's just say, we went through a whole bottle of ammonia and that was the last game of Jelly-Catch.

OMG! That was funny, but yucky, and ouch at the same time. Glad Savannah is OK. Jelly fish just are so gross to me. I'm not sure why. If they are in a tank, I'm fascinated, but not when I risk they could be stuck to my butt in the same place I am swimming. heebie jeebies.

The smaller jelly fish in your third picture is called a moon jellyfish. Usually by the time they washed up on shore they've lost their tentacles containing nematocysts (the stinging weapon of choice for most jellies) and, even if there are still some attached, the sting of moon jellies is quite mild.

The creature in your second picture appears to be a man-o-war (not a jellyfish but a colony of individual zooids - see wikipedia) which has a very painful sting but again, the tentacles have probably been ripped off by the tide.

I'm not sure about the first picture but I think it may be a sun jellyfish (also called lion's mane jellyfish).

A recent graduate of a biology undergraduate program with an interest in invertebrates. :)

Vinegar works to ease the stings, and smells a tad better than amonia ~just~ (smells like stinky shoes) Not to mention safer to be kept around kids. Quite a few people keep a bottle in the car along the coasts of Australia, just in case of box jellyfish stings.Hope you're all safe and sound.

Good god! I take it back. You can't move to Australia! We have jelly fish that will make bat-moths tremble and die in utmost pain. Pick up a jelly and throw it? Shudder. Seriously shudder. And if that was a man-o-war jelly fish, um, so very not good.

Hope Savannah is OK. And enjoy the rest of your holiday, Dawn. you all deserve it. Just stay away from sea creatures with claws, tentacles and teeth.

I have yo agree with the other poster...they are living things. I like your blog and read it often but I have to say, allowing your children to do that is basically teaching them no respect for living things.

Yeah, that was pretty crappy of me to let my kids collect the jellyfish in buckets, observe them, and then put them back in the ocean. And how dare I let my kids pick up dead jellyfish that had been sitting on the beach all day and toss them around. I shouldn't even be allowed to have children, I'm such a horrible parent. It's a good thing I didn't write about how we all pulled the legs off live crabs, threw seashells at birds, and poked dogs with sticks.

So sorry trolls have to show up and ruin the fun times. Some of us understood that the jellies being used in such a "cruel" way were the dead ones on the beach. Some of us like to use opportunities to teach our children through observation. It's no diffrent than letting your kids gently catch and release frogs and salamanders and bugs. Keep up the good work Mama! Let those kids learn through exploration.

Oh Dawn, I'm sorry that people who are not happy with their lives leave mean comments to you cuz they want to make you unhappy too. I've read your blog since the pokemon post and from what I've read you are an INCREDIBLE and AWESOME mom and your kids seem to be really great too!! There are really bad things that some kids do, but throwing DEAD jellyfish?? Come on people, lighten up or better yet - go read some other blog if you don't like what you see on Dawns!! And one more thing I'd like to add Dawn, YOU ROCK!!!!

Kudos to stampin mama for at least leaving her name with her criticism. For the three anonymous women (who are we kidding? It's only other women that have to criticize women all the time) I think if you have something to say, at least have the balls to sign your name to it. I fully believe that Dawn could have described how she and her children collected all the jellyfish that washed ashore, lovingly caressed them, and returned them back to sea and someone would have criticized her for interfering with nature! Come on! We have enough to deal with without stepping on each other. Let's support each other and not worry about the little things. It's true. ALL living things deserve respect; let's start with respecting each other, please.

That looks like fun! I have to admit I, maybe, would have been involved in the Jellyfish baseball game... maybe.

And they are jellyfish! Come on! I stamp on ants and cockroaches and I kill as many mosquitoes and flies as I can reach! And they were dead! Respect dead living things?? I will be sure to give my sushi a high five next time before I throw it down the hatch.